Birmingham’s A.H. Parker Faculty, Alums Add to the School’s Rich Tradition of Education

By Sym Posey | The Birmingham Times (Second of Two Parts) Name the career, and you’ll likely find a successful Arthur Harold Parker High School alum. Among its graduates are a state supreme court justice, a major general in the U.S. Army, an NFL Hall of Famer, and a Tony-award winner, as well as NBA and baseball stars and celebrated Civil Rights attorneys and activists. There’s also a chemist, a mathematician, a renowned composer, a big band leader, a newspaper editor, a mayor, a state representative, a renowned pastor, a sculptor, and a district attorney. (See a list of famous names here) Birmingham’s oldest Black high school turns 125 this year, and some of its most illustrious graduates include those who’ve had their lives transformed after spending four years at the historic institution in the city’s Smithfield community. “The courses I took at Parker High School were called ‘college-prep courses,’ and when I got to college it was simply for me a refresher course,” said Adrienne Reynolds (class of 1975), who serves as the neighborhood officer for the Smithfield community. “I was on the Dean’s List my whole four years at Alabama State University because of what I learned at...